This Morning co-hosts Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield have joined a “blackout” in protest against the death of George Floyd in the United States.
At 11am the ITV daytime show went dark, showing a black screen with the words “Black Lives Matter” in white lettering.
The death of Mr Floyd has triggered widespread protests across the US after footage showed a white police officer continuing to kneel on his neck during an arrest, even after he pleaded he could not breathe.
The presenting partners kicked off Tuesday’s episode by promising to stand “in solidarity with the black community as part of Blackout Tuesday.”
Willoughby, 39, then explained that the show would be supporting the protest “in a number of ways” before Schofield then proceeded to read out a statement from ITV, which had previously been posted on the broadcaster’s social media channels.
“We stand in solidarity with our black colleagues, storytellers and viewers around the world because #BlackLivesMatter,” it said.
Willoughby then added “We are standing with the black community as we educate ourselves” and asked viewers to “look locally to you, what difference can you make?”
Schofield, 58, also noted that people around the world are being encouraged to use today “to read something important today about black culture, black politics [...] to listen to something that’s useful.”
The presenters also separately shared an image of a black square on their personal social media channels in support of Blackout Tuesday.
Broadcasters around the world have paused their output in support of the Black Lives Matter movement.
The music industry is observing a day long blackout with many top record labels telling employees to use Tuesday as a "day of action" to help "provoke accountability and change."
With additional reporting by Press Association
